Page 3 of 3 Japan revs up its Indochina
diplomacy By Hisane Masaki
China via Vietnam by the end of this year.
Nippon Express Co, Japan's largest forwarder, also
plans to activate a 7,000km network liking the
Chinese commercial hub of Shanghai and Singapore
early next year.
Japan's new
tack Amid an intensifying tug-of-war
between Tokyo and Beijing over influence in Asia,
Japan has taken a new tack recently to regain
some
of the ground lost to China.
Since his
inauguration last September, Abe has advocated a
more assertive foreign policy and further
strengthening of the security alliance with the
United States. He has also vowed to seek revisions
of the postwar pacifist constitution to allow the
nation to play a greater role in the international
security arena, especially in step with the US.
In what is widely seen as a thinly veiled
snub to China, among other countries, the Abe
government has also been aggressively pursuing
what it dubs "a value-oriented diplomacy",
advocating strengthened relations with countries
that share common values, such as freedom,
democracy, market economy, respect for human
rights and the rule of law. Abe has put particular
emphasis on strengthened ties with India and
Australia as well as with the US.
Foreign
Minister Taro Aso also unveiled his "arc of
freedom and prosperity" initiative last November
to enhance Japan's relations with emerging
democracies in Asia and Europe and actively
support their democratic and economic development.
In a speech unveiling the initiative, Aso
expressed a strong desire to build such an arch
"around the outer rim of the Eurasian continent
through diplomacy that emphasizes values".
"This region includes countries whose
systems have been undergoing great changes now
that the confrontation between the East and the
West has ended," Aso said.
When Aso
announced this initiative, the CLV countries drew
particular attention because they were the first
names he specifically mentioned as his target
nations and regions. "Concretely speaking, what I
have in mind right now is Cambodia, Laos and
Vietnam, for example," he said.
In a
speech titled "On the Arc of Freedom and
Prosperity", delivered in March at a meeting of a
Tokyo-based think-tank, Aso noted that while Abe
and he visited Europe in January, he had his
senior vice minister, Katsuhito Asano, attend the
Japan-CLV foreign ministers' meeting in the
Philippines.
To be sure, the CLV nations
may be among what Aso said are "countries whose
systems have been undergoing great changes" since
the end of the Cold War. But the CLV nations,
especially Vietnam and Laos, still have a long way
to go toward democratic reforms. Like China and
North Korea, Vietnam and Laos are one-party states
ruled by communist parties.
"Freedom in
the World 2007", the latest of annual surveys of
political rights and civil liberties released
early this year by Freedom House, an independent
freedom watchdog based in the US, gave the CLV
nations dismal ratings. Ratings range from 1 (the
most free) to 7 (the least free). Among the CLV
nations, Laos received the worst ratings - 7 for
political rights and 6 for civil liberties, the
same ratings China received. Vietnam's scores were
7 for political rights and 5 for civil liberties
and Cambodia's 6 for political rights and 5 for
civil liberties.
Meanwhile, Myanmar was
given the ratings of 7 for both political rights
and civil liberties, the same ratings given to
North Korea. Thailand, another neighbor of the CLV
nations, also saw its ratings lowered to 7 for
political rights and 4 for civil liberties,
because of a military coup last year that ousted a
democratically elected premier.
Last
September, the United Nations Security Council
voted 10-4, with one abstention, to add Myanmar to
its formal agenda. China and Russia are among the
four members that voted against the move. Japan,
which served a two-year term as a non-permanent
council member until the end of last year, voted
for the anti-Myanmar move.
Myanmar has
been under strong pressure from the US and Europe
over human rights and democracy. The country's
military rulers have kept Nobel Peace Prize
laureate and pro-democracy champion Aung San Suu
Kyi under house arrest for much of the past two
decades. Despite the decision last September, the
UN has so far failed to take specific action
against Myanmar. In January, China and Russia
vetoed a US-drafted council resolution that would
have demanded Myanmar's military regime end
political repression.
Japan has long
advocated a policy of "constructive engagement"
with Myanmar, rather than isolating that country,
to encourage progress on human rights and
democracy. Japan's vote for the anti-Myanmar move
at the UN signaled a significant departure from
what the US and Europe have often grumbled was
Tokyo's too soft a policy toward Myanmar. But such
a policy shift may be inevitable if Japan, a
self-proclaimed Asian champion of freedom and
democracy, is to match its words with deeds in
pursuing its "value-oriented diplomacy".
Hisane Masaki is a Tokyo-based
journalist, commentator and scholar on
international politics and economy. Masaki's
e-mail address is yiu45535@nifty.com.
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